Basics of Oral Expression

Types of vowels sounds

The vowels sounds can be divided into monothongs, diphthongs, and triphthongs.

Monophthong

The word ‘monophthong’ comes from Greek, with mono meaning ‘one’, and
phthong meaning ‘sound’. So, a monophthong is a single sound, with the
articulators in one position throughout and therefore no change in the sound
quality.There are 12 monophthong: 7 short vowels and 5 long vowels.

Short vowels

N0 Sound Contextual example

1 /ӕ/ Sat, that, hat, at

2 /e/ Bed, went, sent wet
3 /i/ Sit, mill, fill
4 /ɒ/ Shot, fox, pot
5 / ʊ/ Book, full, look
6 /ʌ/ Cup, come, cut
7 /ə/ About, teacher, again

The long vowels

No Vowels Contextual examples

1 /a:/ Start, part, card

2 /ɜ:/ Bird, learn, turn
3 /I:/ Leave, feel, steal
4 /ɔ:/ Taught, bought, awesome
5 /u:/ Too, school, moon

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Diphthongs

"Diphthong" comes from the Greek word diphthongs. It literally means "having two sounds."
More specifically, diphthongs deal with vowels. Every vowel has its own short sound and long
vowel sound. However, diphthongs come into play whenever a vowel makes a new and different
sound, usually because it's working in conjunction with another vowel.

One of the best diphthong examples is the word "oil." Here, we have two vowels working side
by side and, together, they create a sound different than anything "O" or "I" alone can produce.
And that's just scratching the surface. Let's take a closer look.

Diphthongs and Gliding Vowels

A single vowel, such as the "O" or "I" in "oil" is called a monophthong (mono for one, di for
two). An example of a monophthong is the "O" in "hop." But, when we move from one vowel
sound to another, such as the "oi" in "oil," it's called gliding. As such, diphthongs are sometimes
referred to as "gliding vowels."

Linguists love studying diphthongs because they vary between dialects, languages, and
continents. For example, New Yorkers adopted a diphthong that features an "aw" sound. An
example would be the way certain New Yorkers pronounce "dog" in a manner that sounds more
like "dawg."

Likewise, folks over in Birmingham, England adopted a diphthong that features an "oi" sound,
among others. An example would be how certain folks in Birmingham pronounce "nice" in a
manner that sounds more like "noice."

8 English Diphthongs

Considering the intricacy of the subject, you won't be surprised to learn there are dividing
opinions about the number of diphthongs in English. Some will say eight; others ten.

You'll notice that, in some of the examples below, there's only one vowel. How can this be a
diphthong, you say? Well, whenever there's movement in your mouth as you pronounce the letter
and it makes a long vowel sound, it's mimicking two vowels. That's why the "di" or "two"
remains, even though there may be only one vowel written.

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Perhaps the easiest way to recognize a diphthong is to listen to the sound created by the vowel or vowels when yo

/aɪ/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /i/, /igh/, and /y/ to form sounds similar
to "eye." Here are a few more examples:

 Cry

 My

 Like

 Bright

 Lime

/eɪ/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ey/, /ay/, /ai/ and /a/ to form sounds
similar to "great." Here are a few more examples:

 Bake

 Rain

 Lay

 Eight

 Break

/əʊ/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ow/, /oa/ and /o/ to form sounds similar
to "boat." Here are a few more examples:

 Go

 Oh

 Slow

 Loan

 Though

/aʊ/

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This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ou/ and /ow/ to form sounds similar to
"ow!" Here are a few more examples:

 Bound

 House

 Brown

 How

 Now

/eə/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ai/, /a/, and /ea/ to form sounds similar
to "air." Here are a few more examples:

 Pair

 Lair

 Stare

 Care

 Bear

/ɪə/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ee/, /ie/ and /ea/ to form sounds similar
to "ear." Here are a few more examples:

 Career

 Here

 Near

 Year

 Pier

 Serious

 clear

/ɔɪ/

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This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /oy/ and /oi/ to form sounds similar to
"oil." Here are a few more examples:

 Boy

 Coy

 Toy

 Foil

 Coin

/ʊə/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /oo/, /ou/, /u/, and /ue/ to form sounds
similar to "cure." Here are a few more examples:

 Fur

 Sure

 Lure

 Pure

 Manure

 Poor

Triphthongs

A triphthong is a combination of three vowels pronounced rapidly as one; that is, it is a glide
from one vowel position to another and then to a third vowel position produced rapidly without
interruption. In explaining further the nature of triphthongs in English language, Roach
(1991:23) states that, ''The triphthongs can be looked on as being composed of the five closing
diphthongs…with ə added on the end." As we have already discussed above, there are only five
closing diphthongs: /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /əʊ/ and /aʊ/. And since triphthongs are composed of the five
closing diphthongs with an addition of the schwa sound /ə/, thus we have the following
triphthongs in English:
1. The sound /eɪə/: which is composed of the closing diphthong /eɪ/ and the schwa /ə/; thus, /eɪ/ +
/ə/ = /eɪə/ as in the following words:-

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layer = /leɪə/
player = /pleɪə/
sayer = /seɪə/
2. The sound /aɪə/: composed of the closing diphthong /aɪ/ and the schwa sound /ə/; thus,
/aɪ/ + /ə/ = /aɪə/ as in the following words:
liar = /laɪə/
admire = /ədmaɪə/
buyer = /baɪə/
tyre = /taɪə/
tier = /taɪə/
tire = /taɪə/
flier = /flaɪə/
3. The sound /ɔɪə/: composed of the closing diphthong /ɔɪ/ and the schwa sound /ə/; thus,
/ɔɪ/ + /ə/ = /ɔɪə/ as in the following words:
employer = /ɪmplɔɪə/
destroyer = /dɪstrɔɪə/
enjoyable = /ɪndʒɔɪəbl/
buoyant = /bɔɪənt/
4. The sound /əʊə /: composed of the closing diphthong /əʊ/ and the schwa sound /ə/; thus,
/əʊ/ + /ə/ = /əʊə/ as in the following words:
goer = /gəʊə/
borrower = /bɒrəʊə/
lower = /ləʊə/
thrower = /θrəʊə/
mower = /məʊə/
5. The sound /aʊə /: composed of the closing diphthong /aʊ/ and the schwa sound /ə/; thus,
/aʊ/ + /ə/ = /aʊə/ as in the following words:
hour = /aʊə/
flour = /flaʊə/
flower = /flaʊə/
power = /paʊə/

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International Phonetic Alphabet consonants

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as it is used to denote pronunciation of English words

(there is a separate article on vowels). Each symbol is treated separately, with explanation and
examples that are at the same time a link to a dictionary where you can listen to the word
pronounced both in American and British English; the first three examples always contain the
consonant at the beginning, the other three at the end (unless there are no such words).

Remark: when I write “most languages”, I mean “most languages that use the Latin alphabet”).
Voiced consonants are those in which the vocal chords are active while pronouncing it (e.g. b, v,
z, d, g), and unvoiced consonants are the rest (e.g. p, s, t, k, sh).

[b] buy, bet, big, hub, knob, superb

This sound exists in most languages and is also usually denoted by the letter “b”. One thing to
pay attention to is that it doesn’t become “p” when it is at the end of a word (unless it follows an
unvoiced consonant), listen to hub, knob, superb—in British English, the sound is somewhere in
between of “b” and “p”, in American, it is clearly “b”. Also, “mb” at the end of a word is
pronounced just as “m”, as in numb, dumb, lamb.
[d] do, deal, dust, odd, prod, cod

Also a common sound, denoted by “d” in most languages, including English. Again, it doesn’t
become “t” when it is at the end of a word (unless it follows an unvoiced consonant), listen to
odd, prod, cod—in British English, the sound is somewhere in between of “d” and “t”, in
American, it is clearly “d”.
[ð] that, though, there, father, mother

A common source of problems for English learners. It is pronounced as if you wanted to say “d”,
but you only slightly touched the back of your teeth by your tongue instead. In particular, it is not
pronounced as [d] or [dz]. It is represented by “th” in writing, but “th” is also often [θ] (see
below theme, breathe, bath, these, three, thirty ), so you will have to learn by heart when to use
which one.
[dʒ] jet, joke, giant, purge, huge, banjo

A sound approximately like [d] and [ʒ] (see below) pronounced together. It is usually represented

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by “j” (which is always pronounced as [dʒ]) or by “g” which is sometimes pronounced as [dʒ] and sometimes as
[f] fast, fat, philosophy, off, stuff, cough

Again, a sound that usually causes little trouble. It is usually represented by “f” or “ph”, and also
often by “gh” at the end of a word (but “gh” can be pronounced also in many different ways).
[g] go, get, grass, big, dog, fig

The sound similar to “k” but voiced, i.e. with an almost uninterrupted stream of sound coming
out of your vocal chords. It is represented by the letter “g”, but “g” can by pronounced also many
different ways in different contexts. Pay attention to “g” at the end of a word; it is not
pronounced as “k”.
[h] high, how, hot, somehow, ahead, adhere

Native speakers of French and Russian beware! This sound may require some training. Try to
make a neutral sound just by letting air to flow through your vocal chords, and then try to
“squeeze’ the stream of air at the very bottom of your throat. The sound is represented by the
letter “h” in writing, but pay attention to all the possible letter groups in which the letter “h”
participates, e.g. “ch”, “sh”, “th”, “gh” etc. It is never located at the very end of a word or a
syllable (there’s always at least one vowel after it).
[j] you, yet, yawn, pure, cure, few

The symbol can be slightly confusing, especially for speakers of French and Spanish. In the IPA
it represents what is usually written as “y” in English at the beginning of a syllable. It can also
appear after another consonant when written as “u”, pronounced [jʊ], or “ew”, pronounced [juː].
Notice: in words like buy [baɪ], hey [heɪ], the sound at the end is in fact not [j], but the vowel [ɪ]
as a part of a diphthong.
[kh], [k] keep, cat, character, sock, bloc, cheek

When [k] is at the beginning of a stressed syllable, it is always aspirated (there is always a short
“h” after it which is denoted by a superscript “h”). In many dialects, especially in British
English, this aspiration can be heard almost for all occurrences of [k] (it doesn’t matter by what
letter it is represented, only that there is [k] in pronunciation). If you say [k] in place where [k h]
is expected, it can lead to misunderstanding; for example if you pronounce “call” just [kɔːl]
instead of [khɔːl], some people will think that you said “gall” [gɔːl]. It is, however, never

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aspirated after “s”; listen to skin, sky, skate.

However, for simplicity, virtually all dictionaries write just [k] and suppose that the reader
implicitly understands that it is in fact [kh], including the dictionary I am linking to. This can be
very confusing for speakers of languages in which k is not aspirated.

There are many possible ways how [k] can be written: k, c, ch, ck and others. “Ch” and “c” can
be pronounced also differently and there is no reliable rule to decide when it is pronounced as
[k].

[l], [ɫ] low, let, like, owl, cool, well

The sound [ɫ] is called “the dark l”. Some dictionaries use [l] to denote pronunciation of the letter
“l” that precedes a vowel and [ɫ] otherwise. However, there are some dialects in which an “l” is
always dark while in others it is never dark, irrespective of its position. The difference is minor,
and it is pointless to worry about it much.
[m] man, my, more, some, doom, seem

This sound is present in almost every language in the world and shouldn’t pose any problem. It is
always represented by the letter “m”.
[n] no, new, nose, ban, soon, keen

Again, no problem here. Speakers of languages in which [n] can be softened to [ɲ] (e.g. Spanish
“España”, French and German “champignons”, Czech ”ňouma”) should pay attention to the
pronunciation of words like “new”; which are pronounced with [juː], e.g. [njuː], not [ɲuː].
[ŋ] thing, long, sang, singer, longing, bringing

This sound is produced as if you wanted to say “n” but with the back of your tongue (the part
with which you say [g]). It’s never at the beginning of a word but can be in the middle of a word
derived from a verb by adding “-er” or “-ing” (singer, longing). In other cases when “ng” appears
in the middle of a word, it is pronounced [ŋg], as in longer. The letter group “nk” is usually
pronounced [ŋk], as in think, spank.
[ph], [p] pit, pale, poke, top, hip, cap

The very same same rules (in terms of aspirations) that hold for “k” hold also for “p”. It is
always aspirated when it is at the beginning of a stressed syllable and in many dialects also

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almost everywhere else, except after “s”, e.g. spit, speak.
[r], [ɹ] red, rich, rake, boar, care, tour

The correct IPA symbol of the typical English “r” is [ɹ], unless you mean the rolled Scottish [r].
However, the vast majority of English dictionaries denote the sound by [r]. It never appears at
the end of a standalone word in British English (listen to the recordings of the last three
examples), but it is pronounced in British English if the word is immediately followed by another
word beginning with a vowel. For example, “a boar is” would be pronounced approximately the
same in American and in British English.
[s] sit, soap, same, boss, kiss, house

Again, most people have no problem with the sound, but the way it’s written may be a source of
confusion. It is usually represented by “s”, “c”, “sc”, “ss”, but all of these can be pronounced
also differently (“s” and “ss” as [z], “c” as [k], “sc” as [sk]) and there is no general rule which
would help you decide which pronunciation is the correct one. However, you should remember
that “-s” at the end of a word when it means the third person singular of a verb (e.g. “he goes”)
or a plural noun (e.g. “beds”) is always pronounced as [z], unless it follows an unvoiced
consonant (e.g. “bets”)—then it’s pronounced as [s].
[ʃ] shy, shot, chef, posh, bush, douche

This sound is created by saying [s] but bending your tongue further to the upper palate. It is
usually represented by “sh”, but sometimes also by “ch; see my article on words in which “ch” is
pronounced as “sh”.
[th], [t] two, tall, tea, hot, bat, put

The very same rules about aspiration that hold for “k” and “p” hold also for “t”, i.e. it is always
aspirated when it is at the beginning of a stressed syllable (two, tall, tea) and in many dialects
also almost everywhere else, except after “s” (e.g. step, still)
[ɾ] letter, better, written (Am. English only)

Listen carefully to recordings of speakers in American English. Where a Brit would say [th], an
American often says something that sounds like a fast touch of [d]. It is called “alveolar flap”
and is usually represented by a double “t”. However, many dictionaries ignore the distinction and
denote it also by [t].

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[tʃ] chat, China, choose, rich, catch, much

This sound sounds approximately like [t] and [ʃ] together. It is usually represented by “ch” or
“tch” in writing, but “ch” is also often pronounced [k] and sometimes [ʃ].
[v] van, very, vile, stove, leave, save

This sound is the “v” sound of most languages. The letter “v” always represents the sound which
you can hear in the words above, never [w] (as in “wow”). It is important to pronounce it as [v]
and not as [f] also at the end of a word; “leave” and “leaf” are not pronounced the same
(although the difference is subtle).
[w] we, wow, wax, dwell, swine, twain

This sound must be distinguished from [v]; “wary” and “vary” don’t sound the same. It never
occurs at the end of a word, but may appear in the middle. It is usually represented by the letter
“w”.
[z] zoo, xenon, zoom, is, has, booze

This sound usually causes few pronunciation problems, but the way it’s written can be confusing.
The letter “z” usually represents [z], but “x-” at the beginning of a word is also usually
pronounced [z], and “s” at the end of a word is also often pronounced [z] if it is preceded by a
vowel, but not always.
[ʒ] genre, version, measure, garage, equation,

This sound is a softer version of [z]. It is usually represented by “s” in “-sion”, “-sure”, or by “g”
in “-ge”. As far as I know, there is only one English word which starts with this sound: genre.

The Schwa /Ə/

The term "schwa" (from the Hebrew; pronounced SHWA with alternate spelling "shwa") was
first used in linguistics by the 19th-century German philologist Jacob Grimm. The schwa is the
most common vowel sound in English, represented as ə in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Any vowel letter can stand for the schwa sound. Only words with two or more syllables may
have a schwa, which is also called the "mid-central vowel." The schwa represents a mid-central
vowel in an unstressed syllable, such as the second syllable in the word "woman" and the second
syllable in the word "buses."

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"It is extremely important. ... to recognize that pronouncing unstressed vowels as schwa is not lazy or sloppy. All
(Avery, Peter and Susan Ehrlich. Teaching American English Pronunciation, Oxford University
Press, 1992.)

Reduced Vowels

"Vowels change in quality when they are reduced. The reduced vowel tends to be not only very
short but also very unclear, producing an obscure sound that is hard to identify. Consider, as an
example, the name of the California town Orinda, pronounced /ər'in-də/, with the first vowel and
the last vowel reduced to schwa. Only the second vowel in the word, the stressed vowel,
maintains its clarity. The other two vowels are very unclear."

Dialectal Variations in Schwa Usage

"If you listen for it, you can hear schwa in all sorts of places where syllables aren't stressed—for
example, at the beginnings of words like official, occasion, event, and fatigue. Many people...
feel that 'schwa-ful' pronunciations are lazy, but really you would sound pretty odd if you did
pronounce the full vowel in place of schwa in these words. Pronunciations like 'ohfficial' and 'oh
ccasion' sound unnatural and rather theatrical. Schwa also occurs in the middle of words like
coronation and afterwards. Again, it would be peculiar not to sound schwa in this position—for
instance, 'corohnation' for coronation. ..."

"Schwa usage varies greatly between dialects. Australian English speakers often put schwas in
places where British and American speakers won't. Striking differences are also now appearing
as a consequence of the worldwide spread of English."

Schwa and Zero Schwa

"In terms of duration—a phonetic property that the IPA vowel chart does not indicate—schwa is
typically quite short, and this short duration may covary with its tendency to be coarticulated. ..."

"[G]iven its short duration and its consequent tendency to camouflage itself to its context
through coarticulation, schwa may be confused with its absence, setting up a situation in which
schwa-zero alternations may take hold in a system..."
Schwa and English Spelling

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"For the most part, the schwa vowel sound in a two-syllable word is identified by the 'uh' pronunciation and soun

"These aforementioned misunderstandings generally disappear as the child advances in his

reasoning and knowledge of the English language, learns conventional alternatives for
representing sounds, and begins to apply patterning including syllables and a visual sense to his
spelling."
examples of words with schwa

In BrE, a final schwa often opens and becomes a sound very similar to

teacher The transcription for this word is /ti:tʃə/, but it sounds similar to /ti:tʃʌ/.
bigger /bɪgə/ (pronounced /bɪgʌ/ )

This only happens when the schwa goes at the end. If we make a little pause or we stop talking,
then the final schwa may open, but if we continue talking without a pause, then the schwa doesn't
open and it still sounds like a very weak sound.

one teacher pronounced /ti:tʃʌ/

two teachers pronounced /ti:tʃəz/. (now the schwa is not at the end of the speech, so it doesn't
open)
a teacher of maths pronounced /ti:tʃər əv/ (again, it is not final, it doesn't open)

But remember that this is a change in pronunciation that is not shown in transcriptions, we may
say /ti:tʃʌ/ but the correct phonetic transcription is always: /ti:tʃə/

Week 2

Introduction of stress

What is Stress?

Stress refers to the syllable that has the highest prominence within a word (word
stress or syllable stress) or to the word that has the highest prominence within a
sentence (sentence stress). It is a very important notion in English. Stress is also
considered as the placing or laying of emphasis on a syllable to enhance
pronunciation.
The Importance of Word Stress
English stress is so important in English that, unlike in most other

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languages, it determines word class, meaning, sound quality and spelling.
Stress and Word class or Parts of Speech
In English, the same orthographic or spelling form may have different
stress patterns depending on whether it is a noun, verb or adjective. The most
common examples include:

Noun Verb Adjective

‘contrast Con’trast -----------
‘conduct Con’duct -----------
‘decrease De’crease ------------
‘exploit Ex’ploit ------------
‘object Ob’ject -----------
‘progress Pro’gress --------
---------- Ab’sent ‘absent
‘august -------- Au’gust
‘compact com’pact Com’pact
---------- Fre’quent ‘frequent
‘minute -------- Mi’nute
‘present Pre’sent
‘suspect Sus’pect
‘record Re’cord
N.B It should be noted that most words stressed in the first syllables are nouns; the
second syllable verbs. There are, however, exceptions as seen in the above table.
Stress and Meaning
Stress does not only cause words to change class as seen above.
Sometimes, a change of stress patterns causes a change of meaning while the
resulting words maintain the same class. For example: committee, invalid,
protestant, undertaker, record discussed below(sometimes hints about the meanings
are given, rather than the full explanations):

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.Com’mittee: body of persons or groups of people with particular responsibilities
. commit’tee: a person who is committed
.in’valid : not valid
. ‘invalid : a disabled or handicapped person
. ‘protestant: e.g a protestant church or a denomination
. pro’testant : a person who protests
.under’taker : a person who ugndertakes
. ‘undertaker : a person who prepares the dead for burial
. re’cord: the act of recording (verb)
.’record : an object used to record or tape (noun)
Stress and Spelling
Stress plays a vital role in one very important spelling rule: the one
governing the doubling of base final consonants before a suffix beginning with a
vowel. There are three requirements for doubling the final consonant of the base of
a word when the suffix begins with a vowel:
1. The infinitive form of the verb must have a final consonant letter.
(note that doubling never occurs in cases like plant+ed, ing ;
inject+ed, ing ; pretend+ed, ing where there are final clusters. Such
caes will be ignored in the discussion, since they do not pose any
problemto the learner).
2. The final consonant must be preceded by one and only one vowel
letter;
3. The stress must be on final syllable of the base ( and not necessarily of
the infinitive)
In the following cases, the consonant is doubled because the above stated three
conditions are met;
.com’pel+ed, ing ---- com’pelled, com’pelling
. for’get+ing---- for’getting
. be’gin+er , ing----- be’ginner, be’ginning
. pre’fer +ed, ing ---- pre’ferred, pre’ferring

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.drag+ed, ing ------ dragged, dragging
.plan+ed, ing ----- planned, planning
.plot+ed, ing, er----- plotted, plotting and plotter
. slam+ed, ing ----- slammed, slamming
Note
Monosyllabic words are automatically stressed. Therefore, requirement no. 3
is met for plan+ed, ing, plot+ed , ing, etc, and the consonants must be doubled:
Squat+ed, ing---- squatted , squatting
Ac’quit+ed, ing, al ---- ac’quitted, acquitting, acquittal
E’quip+ed, ing ----- equipped, equipping
Note also
In the spelling of the derivatives of squat, ac’quit, e’quip etc, the requirement
no.2 is not considered violated; the sequence qu is regarded as one consonant letter
with respect to our rule, since q does not occur alone. The vowel letter following
qu (e.g a, i) is, therefore, the one vowel letter required for the final consonant letter
to be doubled.
In the following cases, the final consonant is not doubled because one of
the conditions is not fulfilled:
a. Derivatives with no final consonant letter in the infinitive :
Tune+ed, ing ------ tuned , tuning
Pose+ed, ing ------- posed, posing
Ride+ing, er ------- riding , rider
b. Final consonant of the base preceded by more than one vowel
letter:
Plait+ed, ing -------- plaited, plaiting
Reap+ed , ing--------reaped, reaping
Greet+ed, ing ------greeted, greeting
Seek+ing, er --------seeking, seeker
c. Stress falling before the last syllable of the base:
’happen+ed , ing ------ happened , happening
’pardon+ed, ing ------- pardoned, pardoning

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 ’conquer+ed, ing, or ----- conquered, conquering
’combat+ed, ing, ant ----- combated, combating, combatant
In the following cases, stress falls on the last syllable of the infinitive, but shifts to
an earlier syllable in the base and therefore, requirement no.3 is not met.
Pre’fer+ence----- preference but preferred and preferring
De’fer+ence -----deference but deferred and deferring
Confer+ence----- conference but conferred and conferring
The cases discussed in the foregoing are pretty neat with respect to our rule,
and correct spellings can be derived easily. But there a few irregular situations
discussed below:
a. According to the rule, doubling should not take place in
the derivatives of bias and focus. But the two spellings
are acceptable : biased, biasing or biassed, biassing;
focused, focusing or focussed and focussing
b. In verbs with final el where stress does not occur on the
ultimate syllable, the rule is systematically violated in
British English(BrE) and respected in American English
(AmE). We thus have:

BRITISH ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH

Marvelled, marvelling Marveled, marveling
Marvellous marvelous
Modelled, modelling Modeled, modeling
Travelled, travelling Traveled, traveling
Traveller Traveler

Note also

BRINTISH ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH

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Woollen Woolen
Paradoxically -
Skilful skillful
Enrolment Enrollment
Fulfilment fulfillment
It should, however, be noted that our focus is British English and not American
English.
c. In the unique case of excellent , excellence, the rule is
violated in all acceptable varieties of English( a single l is
expected according to the rule)
d. Some forms with p, break the rule in BrE but respect it in
AmE. We thus have:

BRITISH ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH

Kidnap+ed, ing, er Kidnapped, pper, pping Kidnapped, ping, per
Worship+ed, er, ing Worshipped, pping, pper Worshiped, ping , per
Forms for handicap take a double p both in BrE and AmE :
Handicapped, handicapping. This is presumably because handicap is regarded as a
compound and cap, the second element , behaves like a free form.
e. The letter x is never doubled: thus, texed, taxing, taxable,
boxed, boxing, boxeretc
f. The forms in c, form their suffix by adding k before the
vowels as in:
Panic---- panicked, panicking
Picnic----- picknicker

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